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Geopolitics Fuels Energy
Energy stocks hit record highs as geopolitical risks stayed elevated.
Ankit Sinha
January 22, 2026
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🎯 In this issue:
Banana Bits: Finance headlines that actually matter
Market Summary: The S&P is back on green after the Taco trade
What’s Ripe / Rotten: The tastiest and most disgusting stocks
Technical Trip: Interview Question with Jane Street
Lesson from the Library: Learn how VCs spot potential, structure deals, and turn vision into venture returns.
Deal Dispatch: M&A, IPOs, and other transactions
The Daily Poll: See how you stack up
Market Snapshot
📉 Banana Bits
South Korean tech stocks are riding the AI wave, with the Kospi topping 5,000.
Stocks rallied, and gold slipped after Trump backed off on tariffs tied to Greenland.
Malaysia kept policy rates unchanged amid resilient growth and low inflation.
Bond buyers were rewarded for buying the dip after the Greenland deal.
Energy stocks hit record highs as geopolitical risks stayed elevated.
Dimon warned Trump’s proposed credit-card cap would be an “economic disaster.”
A Danish pension fund plans to sell $100M worth of U.S. Treasuries.
Market News
The S&P is Back on Green After Taco Trade
Wall Street’s speculative spirits are on the run again after investors are fueled by hopes for a solution on the Greenland acquisition that could avoid massive retaliation tariffs.
The move also came after President Trump called off new tariffs on Europe, citing in Truth Social that Trump, in a post on Truth Social, said he, alongside Secretary General of NATO Mark Rutte, has formed a "framework of a future deal with respect to Greenland and, in fact, the entire Arctic Region."
Due to the potential framework, he said he’s walking back on imposing tariffs on European allies. The markets reacted positively, with the S&P 500 adding 1.2% in its biggest advance since November. All of its major industries rose, with the gauge back in the green for 2026.
Energy shares led gains, hitting all-time highs. Small caps beat the U.S. equity benchmark for a 13th straight session. Big tech also jumped.
What's Ripe
Intel Corp. (INTC) 11.7%
INTC jumped 12% to $54.25. The chipmaker has started 2026 on a tear, prompting several analyst upgrades.
Seaport Research Partners upgraded the stock to Buy from Neutral on Tuesday, assigning a $65 price target.
Progress Software Corp (PRGS) 10.6%
PRGS rose 11% after the business software developer beat fourth-quarter earnings estimates.
Adjusted earnings of $1.51 topped the $1.31 consensus estimate among analysts polled by FactSet. Revenue of $252 million was in line with estimates
What's Rotten
Kraft Heinz Co. (KHC) 5.7%
KHC dropped 5.7%. Berkshire Hathaway may sell shares from its $7.8 billion equity stake in the food company, according to a prospectus filed by Kraft Heinz late Tuesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) 1.9%
NFLX declined 1.9%. The streaming service topped analysts’ fourth-quarter earnings and revenue targets after the close of trading Tuesday, but issued softer-than-expected margin guidance.
The company also said it would pause share buybacks as it seeks to build up its cash pile to fund its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery’s streaming and studios assets.
🧠 Technical Trip
Interview Q&A from Jane Street
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📚 Lesson from the Library
🎥 Venture Capital: The Business of Betting on Innovation
Learn how VCs spot potential, structure deals, and turn vision into venture returns.
🦈 Deal Dispatch
M&A, IPOs, And Other Notable Transactions
BitGo is said to have priced its U.S. IPO at $18 a share, above the range.
OpenAI’s Altman is reportedly meeting Middle East investors for a $50B funding round.
European tankmaker KNDS has picked banks for a blockbuster IPO.
L’Occitane is weighing a potential $7B IPO in the U.S.
📊The Daily Poll
What is driving energy stocks to record levels? |
Previous Poll:
What best explains the AI gap between China and the West?
Hardware restrictions: 28.6% // Talent concentration: 24.3% // Capital access: 24.3% // Overstated gap: 22.8%
Banana Brain Teaser
Previous
60% of the members of a study group are women, and 45% of those women are lawyers. If one member of the study group is to be selected at random, what is the probability that the member selected is a woman lawyer?
Answer: 27%
Today
Lloyd normally works 7.5 hours per day and earns $4.50 per hour. For each hour he works in excess of 7.5 hours on a given day, he is paid 1.5 times his regular rate. If Lloyd works 10.5 hours on a given day, how much does he earn for that day?
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Chris, Vyom, Ankit, Mitchell, Fernanda, & Patrick